An Easton motorsports dealership owner has pleaded guilty to running a seven-year tax fraud scheme that drained more than $190,000 from Maryland state coffers, using forged customer signatures and falsified sales paperwork to pocket the difference between what buyers paid and what the state was told they paid. Robert David Michael, 56, admitted to felony theft over $100,000, felony identity fraud over $25,000, perjury, and willfully filing a false income tax return.
Under the binding plea agreement, Michael must pay $171,450.07 in restitution split across three state agencies: $81,081.42 to the Department of Natural Resources, $52,448.36 to the Motor Vehicle Administration, and $37,920.29 to the Comptroller, according to the Office of the Attorney General of Maryland. He also owes an additional $25,000 court fine on top of that restitution total.
As WMDT reports, Michael owns B&E Motorsports, and investigators say his scheme ran from July 2018 through June 2025. He created false paperwork that deflated the reported cost of jet-skis, dirt bikes, and trailers, then submitted those documents to state agencies while collecting the correct tax amount from customers at the point of sale, according to the outlet's reporting.
How the Scheme Worked
Michael would report artificially lower sale prices to reduce the excise tax payments owed to Maryland, then pocket the gap between what he collected and what he actually forwarded to the state, per the same account from WMDT. He also forged customers' signatures on vehicle titles as part of the operation, the outlet reports.
State investigators calculated the scale of the fraud in granular detail: 165 falsified vessel forms cost Maryland $81,081.42, while 95 falsified vehicle forms accounted for another $78,545.49, according to WBOC. Beyond the vessel and vehicle forms, more than $35,000 went uncollected through unpaid sales tax and underreported personal income tax, the station reports.
A review of Michael's sales documents also turned up underpayment of collected state sales tax, and a separate review of his income tax filings found gross underreporting of income, per WMDT's reporting. Investigators believe Michael stole more than $190,000 from the state of Maryland through unpaid taxes over the course of the scheme.
Why the Tax Streams Matter
The fraud touched two separate state tax systems that don't normally overlap. Personal watercraft and boats in Maryland face a 5% vessel excise tax administered by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, which funds the state's Waterway Improvement Fund for public boating infrastructure and dredging projects. The MVA administers a separate vehicle excise tax; state legislators raised the general non-rental vehicle rate from 6% to 6.5% effective July 1, 2025, according to the MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration.
The Comptroller lists vehicles among goods subject to Maryland's general retail sales and use tax, per the Comptroller of Maryland.
How Investigators Caught the Pattern
The scheme unraveled after a DNR employee noticed a pattern of substantial undervaluing by B&E Motorsports in November 2023 and referred the matter to the agency's auditing division, according to WMDT. That division brought in the Maryland Natural Resources Police, who then referred the case to the Attorney General's criminal division.
Several state agencies were involved in the investigation.
Sentencing and Probation Terms
Michael's case was before the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, even though B&E Motorsports is located in Talbot County.
Under the plea agreement, Michael will serve 18 months of incarceration followed by supervised probation. If he violates the terms of that probation, he faces up to eight and a half additional years of active prison time, the agreement stipulates. His sentencing is scheduled for October 27.
Attorney General Anthony Brown said every dollar stolen through tax fraud is a dollar that should have gone toward roads, schools, services and protecting the environment and Maryland's natural resources. His office said it will continue to protect the integrity of Maryland's systems and hold wrongdoers accountable.
Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman echoed that message, saying tax fraud undermines the fairness and integrity of the tax system, and those who break the law must be held accountable.
